Phil Woolas should be sacked, then expelled….

Judges in the case against Phil Woolas are expected to deliver their verdict tomorrow. The verdict could force Ed into his first sacking and could force an early by-election in Oldham and Saddleworth. Even if Woolas is found legally innocent; his guilt on the wider, issues is there for all to see. Don Paskini describes the literature put out by Woolas as “vile racist filth” and he is not wrong.

Paskini also makes the point that plenty of scope exists for the expulsion of Woolas on the grounds of bringing Labour into disrepute. If Woolas manages to wriggle out of the courtroom tomorrow then it would be right and proper that  he be prosecuted under the laws prohibiting the incitement of racial hatred. It might even be that a prosecution through this avenue might be more successful.

Little doubt exists that Woolas cynically incited racial hatred for electoral gain. Documents submitted to the court include an email exchange detailed in the New Statesman:

An email by Woolas’s election agent, Joseph Fitzpatrick, to the candidate declared: “we need … to explain to the white community how the Asians will take him out … If we don’t get the white vote angry he’s gone.” Another from Fitzpatrick to Steve Green, the MP’s campaign adviser, said: “we need to go strong on the militant Moslem (sic) angle” and proposed the headline “Militant Moslems (sic) target Woolas.”

Woolas’s continued presence at the top table calls into question the integrity of a leader who promised a return to Labour values.  Ed Miliband has also put himself now in a position it makes his judgment looks bad either way in appointing Woolas in the first place, however, swallowing his pride is now the only way forward for the leader regardless of the actual verdict. Woolas has to go, he is not fit to be a member of the Party let alone a Shadow Minister and if Ed Miliband feels he is then he has to explain how this reflects on his own personal values and the ones he wants for the Labour Party.